Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The insolvent German payment services provider Wirecard has dismissed 730 employees at its headquarters in Aschheim with immediate effect. This includes all board members. The dismissal came via email. Affected employees will now have to apply for unemployment benefits.
This means that 570 employees will remain at Aschheim. 350 of them will remain with the insolvent company and 220 with the non-insolvent Wiredcard Bank AG.
According to trade union information, the number of employees to be let go is much higher, with only 300 to 500 of the 1,300 jobs remaining in Aschheim.
The company's press release states that the bankruptcy is due to the massive loss caused by the discovery of alterations in the company's accounts reporting.
Eurofound (2020), Wirecard, Bankruptcy in Germany, factsheet number 101612, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101612.